Gig pictures for C&C... :)

af_thefragile

Here are some of the pictures from my first gig photography.
And if you guys like, you guys can let me know how i did!












And for the whole lot, you can check out here (as i only added a few of the many i took that night...): http://pix.ie/tracingspirals/album/334336


And for some reason the pictures here look a lot more pale than they did when i was processing them!...

AnimalRights

Hi, so these are the famous Datsuns! (2-6)

#1 This angle def has potential and I'd use it myself although the stage looks cluttered and you've caught the double bass player at the wrong time as he is just standing there, lack of live action so to speak as nothing is happening.
She's also a pretty girl so the face would be nice, I like the B+W conversion though.

#2 Weakest of the set by fair, not sharp or even a pleasing motion/action blur, microphone completely blocking the vocalists face off.

#3 Again this has potential but for me the crop is too tight and you're missing the bass head.

#4 Quite good except you've cropped way too tight again on both sides.

#5 Crop issues again, his ONE brown suede boot looks out of place!

#6 This is like #3 in a way but I like this one better, it wouldn't be to everyones taste but I like the blur/oof look, I'd have swapped the crops though, take some away on the right and you needed more on the left.

Def keep at it because their is plenty to be pleased about, you're capturing the feel of the gig which I prefer to then we say gig shots which are based on lighting.
Think about #2 and make sure one like that never slips through again for shot selection!!

thebaz

I like the first one and the 2nd last one , its my fav - one thing I'd suggest just post the 2 or 3 strongest - more than 2 shots of any band, becomes tiring , even by the best - the pros usually only post 1 image per gig - but keep at it

AnimalRights

I'd disagree slightly with Barry.
It's a C&C thread he needs at least 3-4 IMO.

af_thefragile

Thanks for the crit,

#2 was taken without the flash so i added it as i felt it gave that "gig lightning" but i do agree its the weakest in the set.

The problem with #4 and #6 is that i took those pictures quite randomly (by sticking my hand out and vaguely pointing the camera in the direction i wanted to take the picture in) so basically i got bits of the guy cut off in the original pics. Hence that was the best crop i could do with then considering what i had...

I think i can fix #3 and #5 to include the bass head and remove that one shoe!

I didn't take many pics of that supporting band hence that was the best one i had with the whole band...
And here's the chick if you'ld fancy:


Again, i have to admit, its not a great pic. I think its a little too cluttered and not a good shot of her.

AnimalRights

The shoe thing is not that I don't like it but that they're should be two!
So this Datsuns gig was busy and you had to snatch at these photos?
What sized gig/club was it?
Ta for the chick btw. :cool:

af_thefragile

It was quite a tiny club actually... Roisin Dubh in Galway if you've ever been there.
I was right at the front, two feet from the band, it was really packed, there was a moshpit right behind me and i had gotten bored taking normal pics so i just started taking random pics sticking my hand out to see if i could get anything exciting... I realised i got better (or can i use the word creative!) results by just sticking my hand out with the camera in random angles than i did by composing looking though the viewfinder. Though one problem was that by that random pics method a lot of important bits get cut out from the pic...

AnimalRights

Hah! was there at a gig only a few weeks back!!


If there were no bouncers where the band were playing you should've just pushed to the front?
I never shoot pics by just sticking out the camera, when the moshing is crazy I stick my elbows out, helps that I used to dance and had to learn to protect my self.
The light was terrible the night I was there.....flash most def needed.



I also took photos from the side and behind the band.

Behind the band
http://pix.ie/punkrock/812719/size/800
http://pix.ie/punkrock/812727
Side of the band
http://pix.ie/punkrock/812716
http://pix.ie/punkrock/812728
front of band
http://pix.ie/punkrock/812726

I tried a on top of the band....But fell of the ceiling. :pac:

af_thefragile

^Those are some really cool pics!
You do take amazing gig pics i should say!
And i see you like your punk! I was big into punk too... but i kinda moved on from those punk days...

It was the first time i was taking pics freely at a gig with no bouncers jumping on me so i was a little reluctant to push too much into the band, hence i took pretty much all the pics from my little spot right in front of the vocalist. I might try to be a little more bold the next time... I learnt quite a lot from this gig though. Especially about the flash and learning to make use of the nifty fifty more! Also i'm studying about better composition and getting exposures right so hopefully i should be able to get better results in the next gig.

AnimalRights

I'm into Punk since 1978, 31 years this month.

I used 2 lenses at this gig, the 50mm and a wide lens 24-105L for the group shots.

I see other photographers standing in 1 spot as if their frozen to the spot and tbh how can you get real interesting action shots from 1 spot, diff if you're at a commercial band with packed audience and bouncers though.

I find I don't worry about composition I just go for the action or predict it in my head, I've studied lots of other peoples gig photos and read c&c threads etc
Exposure I don't worry about too much if I'm using a flash, I shoot in Raw and tend to under expose a bit to give me something to play with.
The Galway pics were shot in jpg though as I was away for the weekend and wasn't sure if I'd fit all the pics onto my mem card, hence some of the faces are a bit waxy, I find Raw far superior.

af_thefragile

Thats pretty much since the whole punk thing started!!

I didn't wanna piss too many people off neither was i a pro photographer hence i stood my ground in the tiny place and just moved my hands around to get different perspectives.

Thanks for the tips. I kinda picture certain shots in my mind first then wait for the band to do what i'm waiting for or compose the shot to take the pic I've been looking for. And then cuz its a digital cam, i also end up taking tons of random pics and ended up deleting more than half of them!! I took the pics in raw too but i still haven't got proper software to edit in raw so i'll wait for that till i get to processing raw pics.
I'll keep in mind the underexposing of shots too for my next gig! Looks like i can learn a lot from your pics about gig photography... Just pity right now i don't have any decent gigs to take pics of. But i'll keep practicing so when i do have gigs, i can be good at it!

AnimalRights

There are plenty of gigs on in Dublin every weekend, even if it's not to your taste/genre you can praccy at 'em, I recommend pub ones.
Just check the music forums here or on Thumped.com.

af_thefragile

Hmm... I'll probably start heading down to those local gigs too. Just not into the whole indie stuff thats around these days and hence i avoid most local gigs as i find most of them pretty poor (haven't been to any local punk one yet)... But for practicing, they should be good...

Hugh_C

for what it's worth, I think №2 rocks

AnimalRights

You just like their dark flowing long hair!